Special advisers receive £5.4m

Number 10 has 26 special advisers

The government's 74 special advisers were paid £5.4m in 2002-03, the prime minister has disclosed.

The figure includes salary, severance pay and an estimate of pensions costs.

Two unnamed special advisers at Number 10 are paid the most, with salaries between £94,326 and £131,008 each.

BBC News Online political correspondent Nick Assinder says these two people are Tony Blair's press chief Alastair Campbell and chief of staff Jonathan Powell.

Number 10 has 26 special advisers - the most of any department - including Mr Campbell and Mr Powell.

Power curb call

Of the other advisers, two are paid the top rate, between £78,606 and £94,326, while 11 are paid between £58,693 and £91,181, six between £46,116 and £60,278 and five between £35,635 and £47,362.

The figures are likely to spark a new row about the role of special advisers, who are paid by taxpayers but are not bound by the strict impartiality of the civil service.

Last year's total wage bill for ministerial advisers was £5.1m, up from £4.4m the previous year.

The Treasury currently has 10 special advisers, including a chief economic adviser and five members of the Council of Economic Advisers.

The Home Office has four special advisers, including one part-time, while the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has three, including one part-time, the Chief Whips' Offices three and the Ministry of Defence two.

Earlier this year an inquiry prompted by spin doctor Jo Moore's infamous 11 September e-mail called for curbs on the power of special advisers.

The Committee on Standards in Public Life launched its inquiry after Ms Moore suggested it would be "a good day to bury bad news".

Sir Nigel Wicks, who chaired the investigation, said that each minister should take personal responsibility for the conduct of his or her special advisers - and that included the prime minister.

Ms Moore herself left her post last year, and is now training to be a primary school teacher.